Monday, June 16, 2008

Mourning to Excess?

I guess at this point you have to live under a rock to not know political reporter Tim Russert died. I liked Russert, and he would have been my first choice of political pundits to watch during the upcoming election season. Well, no, actually, he was my second choice. My first choice was Peter Jennings, but he, too, is dead.

Some writers I know feel that the TV media have gone overboard in their tributes to Russert, and I have to agree. Russert was a man who did his job, but was also, by all reports, a good man. But that's all he was -- a man, doing his job, albeit on a larger stage than most of us do. In the grand scheme of things, Russert, nor his job, were all that important to mankind. But I also can't fault the media for their zealous mourning. These are media people. They lost one of their own. Hashing out the details is what they do. All professions mourn their own in their own way.

But I have to say, there were two other media deaths that touched me more deeply. Jim McKay and Charlie Jones. Sportscasters. Guys I spent my childhood listening to. Every Saturday with Jim McKay and Wide World of Sports. Sundays with Charlie Jones and football and my dad. I've missed Wide World of Sports for years. These are voices who haven't been around much lately, but that isn't to say that their permanent silence won't be missed.